Everything You're Not
by monachambers25
Summary: Clare is content where she is, working at the public library, and being somewhat invisible. What will happen when a certain dark haired rebel needs to serve probation hours at Clare's place of work? Trouble never looked so good.
1. Chapter 1

"Ms. Edwards!"

Clare's mind came back to the present, it was always so easy to drift off during English.

"Yes! Um, I mean, s-sorry."

A few students at the next table over started chuckling. She tried to pay them no mind, it was a bit hard when one of them happened to be Eli Goldsworthy.

Clare supposed she understood his appeal. He was amazingly good looking, with green eyes that pierced right through you, his messy hair always seemed to look perfect.

Clare understood the appeal, that didn't mean she dropped at his feet like most of the girls in school.

It was his attitude that turned Clare off. He was rude, presumptuous, lacking any and all manners, but of course, he still managed to gain acceptance at their school.

The shrill sound of the bell going off had the students out of their seats. Eli was already out of the room and moat likely off to have the funnest week end imaginable.

Clare sighed at the thought.

Of course, her Friday would be spent working at the public library on third.

Not that she had more engaging plans anyway, and it helped that the library was perhaps her favorite place on the planet. There was something about the tranquil environment it provided that seemed to calm down every nerve she had. It was simply, her happy place.

With that, she made it to her car, and started off towards her favorite place.

Little did she know that it would soon get a complete make over..


	2. Chapter 2

Hey! Here's chapter 2. I don't own Degrassi. Enjoy!

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><p>It was a bright, Monday morning when Clare found herself pulling into a parking space at the library.<p>

Today was some sort of student holiday, so she took advantage of the possibility of some extra hours at work. She made her way into the quiet store and walked into the back room to shed her jacket and put her purse into her employee cubby.

She was the first one to arrive, and she relished in the alone time it provided her. About an hour later her manager, Jodie walked in, Clare went to greet her, but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that she wasn't alone.

Trailing in behind her, looking peeved as ever, was Eli Goldsworthy.

What. The. Hell.

"Clare! Great to see you in so early, this is actually perfect, as it looks like you'll be in charge of training our newest employee!"

Clare was shocked, and also a bit scared of the prospect of having to tell Eli Goldsworthy what to do...

_Because he just lovesss authority._

"Uh.. O-okay, sounds fine.." Her whole face felt like it would burst into flames.

"Thanks a bunch Clare, now, I need to call in some new shipments, so I'll be in the back if you need me. You two have fun, alright?"

Finally, Eli spoke.

" Don't worry Jode, we'll have tons of fun, but relax, we'll keep it PG."

Jodie let out a modest laugh, and then proceeded to the back room.

What in the world was going on? Clare thought to herself. His sarcastic tone mixed with the innuendo left Clare all kinds of confused.

She finally met his eyes, and immediately wished she hadn't.

He smirked the devil's smirk, and then _winked_ at her.

If Clare was red before, now she must have resembled a fire truck.

"Uh, okay, so why don't I show you how to clock in first?"

Eli, seemingly deciding to ignore her question, walked past Clare and proceeded to jump onto the counter of the register.

"Eh, maybe later, it's way too early in the morning for my cute self to absorb information, but you wouldn't happen to have anything to eat would ya?"

Clare couldn't believe her own ears.. was he always so.. full of himself?

"No actually, I don't.. but um, we should really get st-tarted.."

"Clare was it? I would love to, don't get me wrong.. but this machine can't run on an empty stomach. Tell you what, I'm gonna run out and get myself some grub, and you can explain to little miss Jodie that there was an emergency at home that I just _had_ to attend to. Thanks, you're the greatest."

Clare most likely resembled a fish at this point. She didn't think her mouth could open any further.

"But, you.. you can't just leave!"

"Course I can, because you're not going to rat me out. Now if I were you I would close your mouth.. Unless of course, that's an invitation.."

Oh, and he was disgusting.

Without another glance at Clare, he jumped off the counter top, and was out the door before she could say another word.

What just happened?

Clare couldn't believe it.. he was just so.. _rude_. And to top it off, he thought he could do whatever he wanted. The question was, what the hell was he doing working here of all places? It just didn't make sense.

Carefully, she made her way to the back room. She knocked, and then opened it to reveal Jodie looking intently over some paper work.

"Um, Jodie?"

"Hey Clare, how are things going with our newest recruit?"

This would be tricky.. Should she just rat him out? It would sure as hell give her some of her dignity back. Eli had run over most of it a couple minutes ago..

Shit, who has she kidding? She was probably the most gutless person in the world. She would end up doing exactly as he wanted. Simply out of fear of retaliation.

"Well, you see Jodie, Eli.. he, uh, just received a very important phone call from.. his mom! And there was an emergency.. and.. he said he'd be back as soon as can.."

"Oh dear! That sounds terrible, well then. That's fine of course. Poor boy. First he's almost arrested, and now trouble at home.."

What?

"What! I.. I mean, he was almost arrested?"

Jodie started to vigorously nod her head before continuing. " Oh yes! It was just terrible. Apparently the poor child was accused of stealing a vehicle!Well I don't believe it for a second! Oh no, he seems just too sweet if you ask me. Well anyway, as part of his probation and community service hours, he is now working here. So lets try and make him feel right at home, I'm sure he's just so traumatized.."

Clare could not believe her ears. Was he actually making people believe that he was innocent? This was the first time Clare was hearing about Eli and a stolen car. But let's be real, who would have told her in the first place? She didn't exactly have throngs of friends calling her up every time a piece of juicy gossip started going around.

Well great, now she could add dangerous felon, and dirty liar to her 'words that describe Eli Goldsworthy' list.

Jodie snapped her back to the present.

"Did you hear me Clare?"

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

Jodie cleared her throat, " Just make sure you're extra nice to Mr. Goldsworthy, alright?" She said smiling. " It just looks like nothing is going right in the poor boys life."

As much as Clare wanted to start shaking the crap out of Jodie, she refrained. Instead, she smiled and nodded her head.

"Whatever you say Jodie."

"Good girl! Now what are you still doing standing here? Get your little self back out front and get to work."

As she walked out of the back room, Clare had one simple thought.

_Kill. Me_. _Now._

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><p>Author's note Hello! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review if you have the chance! I'd like to her your thoughts. Again, I don't own Degrassi, I just love me some Eli. Thanks for reading. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own Degrassi!**

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><p>Clare wandered the halls of Degrassi the next morning, going over the previous day in her head.<p>

She was literally living in a nightmare. It wasn't enough that she had to witness the enigma that was Eli Goldsworthy in school. But now he was tormenting her in her own sanctuary..

Okay, maybe she was being a little over dramatic. But God dammit if she wasn't entitled to it.

She was mostly irritated with herself. And how she had let Eli walk all over her. She just stood there and let him get away with leaving work.

Well it wasn't going to happen again. No. The next time Eli decided to push his luck, she was going to push him right back.. if that made any sense at all.

"Clare!" A loud, booming voice rang out from the other side of the hallway. It almost sounded like a canon being fired. She wondered how someone could be so oblivious to the terror of their own voice.

"Hey Jake.., uh, what's up?"

Clare had known Jake since she had moved to their little town. He was the first playing pal she was introduced to. She remembers them doing everything together, but when it came apparent that things like sleep overs, and bathing together might be seen as a tad inappropriate, their friendship dwindled a bit. Nevertheless, they remained close, well, as close as they could be.

Jake let out a nervous chuckle. This wasn't a new occurrence by any means, but Clare found it strange how he recently always seemed.. weird around her.

"Uh.. oh, right! I wanted to know if you wanted to, um, hang out tonight? I just got Green Zone from netflix, I thought if you wanted to we could.. y'know, pop some popping corn, and uh, get cozy.. RATS! I mean, not like that, I mean, unless you wanted to, I wouldn't be adverse to...uh.. yeah."

Clare said nothing for a moment, she couldn't help but notice how much Jake was now perspiring... weird.

"You know, I would love to Jake,but I have to work tonight."

His face fell immediately.

_Shit_. Clare thought. _Fix this._

"Uh, but I could always come by after? I do really want to see Green Zone."

Jake's smile was now back in place.

"Excellent, well then I guess I'll see you tonight?" He said.

"Sure, sounds good."

Jake replied once more. "Wonderful, it's a da- Uh.. day! A day for great friends to come together and watch a film... uh.. I have to.."

Before Clare could say anything else, Jake was running in the other direction.. In the opposite direction of his next class..

Clare was stacking boxes in the back when the door chimed. Apparently someone finally decided to show up.

She made her way to the front with a scowl on her face. There he was.. that chesire grin in place. God he looked good..

Focus.

"Howdy Miss."

She didn't try to contain her annoyance. "You're late."

Eli's smile dropped just a bit. "Excuse me?"

"I think you heard me. You're late. An hour late. So unless you have some sort of doctor's note, or I don't know, some tragic emergency at home you just _had to attend to._ Then I see no reason why I shouldn't report you to Jodie."

_Atta girl._

Eli now looked thoroughly pissed off. That made her smile on the inside a bit. She was glad that he was mad. Things shouldn't get to go the way he wants them to all the time.

"W.O.W. Tell me something, are you always this anal? Because if not I would suggest you take that ten foot tree out of your ass princess. News flash, no one, especially you of all people, get to tell me what to do."

Clare could not believe him. Why did he think he could walk around and act like that! She was totally justified in what she had said. She had worked here far longer than he had, which meant he had to follow her rules. That's the way it would go. She'd be damned if she was going to let him intimidate her.

"No, news flash for you Eli. You do what I say. I'm the one who's stuck training you, as unfortunate as that is for me. And even though I don't like it, I actually need this job. And I'll be damned if I'm going to let some immature prick ruin that!"

Oh. My. God.

She didn't think she'd ever spoke that much to another person.. well ever.

All she was planning to do was put him in his place a little, but once the flood gates opened, she couldn't stop her words from tumbling out.

"Hm. I'm impressed Clare, I didn't think you had any balls in the slightest, boy did you prove me wrong. And it was pretty cute, I'll give you that. You're kind of.. hot when you're angry." He winked at her.

"Ugh! Shut up. Just go finish stacking those boxes in the back, the sooner you finish, the sooner you can go home and I can go back to being happy."

"Ohh, firey. Keep it up. It does great things for you."

She was losing her patience quickly. "Just go stack the boxes."

"Yes mam."

Silence took over a few minutes later. Clare was organizing books on the shelves, and she assumed Eli was still working in the back, as she hadn't heard his annoying tenor for a good while.

Just then the door opened to reveal Jake standing awkwardly, his glasses had fogged up a bit from the bitter cold outside. His nose was pink from the biting wind.

"Jake? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, well I was getting kind of worried, you didn't show up at my place when I thought you would."

His voice was strained a bit.

"Shoot, I'm so sorry Jake, I guess I lost track of time. Well, I'm ready to go now if you still want to hang out."

"Yes! Definitely."

"Cool, let me just grab my coat."

Clare turned around and was shocked to find Eli standing there. Had he just been listening to their conversation?

He looked back and fourth between Clare and Jake. Clare noticed that he looked.. annoyed?

He locked eyes with Clare before speaking.

"Going somewhere?"

"Yup. I was actually supposed to be gone a while ago but I guess I lost track of time. I suppose that happens when you have to do the work of two employees.

Eli rolled his eyes. "Who's your friend?"

Clare saw that he was now looking up at Jake, who seemed to be a lot taller than himself. He looked as if he was sizing him up. But for what purpose?

Jake decided to make himself known again.

"I'm Jake, we've gone to the same school for about ten years."

Eli laughed. "Well, how awkward. So, any big plans for the night Jack?"

Clare looked at Eli angrily. Why was he being like this? Couldn't he just ignore both her and Jake and get back to work?

" Nothing, just hanging out. Which means we better get going, be sure to lock up Eli." Clare said hurriedly.

Eli was now smiling a harsh smile. "Will do boss."

Jake put his hand on Clare's lower back in an attempt to steer Clare out the door. Eli's eyes zeroed in on the gesture.

"Night Eli.. see ya around I guess." Jake said.

Eli looked at Clare while replying to Jake. " Seems to turn out that way doesn't it?"

Clare grabbed Jake's hand and pulled them both through the door. " Right.. goodnight."

Clare and Jake got in their respective cars and made there way to Jake's house.

Clare was a mixture of confused and irritated at how the night had progressed, but the more she thought about it, the more her head hurt. She decided to try and put Eli out of her mind. For some reason that seemed impossible..

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><p>Please review!<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own Degrassi!

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><p>Clare walked into the library on Friday afternoon only to be greeted with the strangest site.<p>

Eli was there.. on time?

The second she closed the door Eli looked up from the counter, for a second he looked excited to see her, then his look quickly turned to one of annoyance.

" You're late." He said.

Clare quickly became upset. "I had car troubles, my dad had to drop me off." She walked past him and into the back room.

She was reaching for a box on a higher shelf when she felt something behind her.

"I got it." Eli was suddenly standing very close to her. If Clare had moved back an inch his front would have been pressed against her. She forgot to breath as Eli reached up and took the box out of her grasp.

Clare cleared her throat. "Uh.. thanks."

Eli took a step back. All the while, his eyes remained on her.

"So.. how was your date the other night?"

Clare confused look forced him to clarify. " Remember? Your gangly boy toy?"

" Wait.. are you talking about Jake?"

Eli eyes seemed to get darker at the mention of his name.

"Yeah. Who else?"

"He's.. he's not my boyfriend."

Eli laughed. " Does he know that?"

"What are you even talking about?"

He came a little closer. " Nothing, he just seems a bit like a lost puppy when he's around you. That, and he can't seem to ever stop drooling over you.. And you seem to be the only person that talks to him.. granted he seems to only ever talk about the most nerdy ass shit.."

"Okay, first of all, he does not drool all over me. Second of all, he happens to be a really good friend of mine, and he's one of the kindest people I know. And that's more than I can say for you!"

Eli became noticeably pissed. " Oh yeah? So what, just because a guy doesn't act like a total pussy around you he doesn't have a shot in hell? Get off your high horse princess."

He moved even closer to her, forcing her to press up against the wall.

"What the hell is your problem? I don't even understand why you're so interested in this! We are not friends, so why are you so concerned about any of this?"

"Maybe because all you ever do is accuse me of being the worst fucking person ever! And you seem to think that you're little miss perfect who never hurts anybody! Well that's a fucking lie because you know that Jack kid is gaga over you, and you just pretend to be oblivious about it. Isn't that kind of a shitty thing to do? Stringing someone along? Get over yourself!"

He kept moving closer, and she could feel the heat coming off of him. There faces were mere inches away from each other.

Clare didn't know whether to be afraid, or furious.

Before she could decide, the bell on the door chimed, alerting them of a costumer.

Clare pushed past Eli and smoothed her clothes down. She avoided looking at him for the rest of her shift.

The end of the night had finally arrived. Clare had finished locking up while successfully avoiding Eli.

She took out her phone to call her dad to pick her up, only to find that it had died.

"Just perfect."

She didn't feel Eli come up beside her. "Problems?"

She jumped a foot in the air. "Jesus! Why the hell do you keep popping up from no where?"

Eli laughed. "Sorry. Maybe you should learn to be more observant."

Clare huffed and made a bee line for the door.

"Where are going?"

"Uh.. home." Clare said.

"Were you planning on walking? I thought your dad drove you here or something."

"He did, and I was gonna call him to pick me up, but my phones dead."

"Do you.. do you want a ride?" He looked a bit shy all of a sudden.

"No, um, that's okay. Do you think I could just use your phone?"

He was quick to answer. " Mines dead too. Come on, just let me take you home, it'll be easier this way."

Clare weighed her options. She really didn't want to go anywhere with him. Not after the sort of fight they had just had. But here choices were slim, and she just really needed to get home.

"Fine, thanks Eli."

"Whatever, come on, it's getting pretty cold out."

They walked out together after locking up the store. He lead her to his decrepit black hurse. Clare went to her side only to find Eli already standing there. He swiftly opened her door for her.

She was perplexed by how.. nice he was being. This was such a turn around from earlier in the day.

In no time they were in the car and speeding down the deserted road.

And uncomfortable silence developed after she gave him brief directions to her house.

Clare really didn't know what to do with her hands, so she settled on wringing them together in her lap.

Eli noticed her behavior. " You can turn on the radio if you want."

"I'm fine, thanks."

Eli sighed. " Look.. I'm sorry for being a dick today. You didn't owe me any explanation. I'm sorry for making things harder for you. I just.. I know I don't deserve it, but I'd really like to try and be friends."

"You want to be friends.."

"If you'd like to be."

She really didn't know how to respond. A couple hours ago they had been at each others throats. But he did apologize, and he was giving her a ride home. So why not give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Sure Eli.. that, that sounds good."

Before she knew it he was pulling in to her drive way.

"Thanks again for the ride. I, guess I'll see you at work tomorrow?"

"I guess you will" His smirk was back in place.

Clare was reaching for the door handle when she heard a ring tone start to chime. Which didn't make sense, seeing as hers was dead..

Eli reached inside of his jacket and pulled out his cell phone, most likely silencing it.

" I thought you said your phone was dead.."

Eli looked nervous for a second, but it quickly faded. " I guess I turned it off by accident or something.. so yeah." He was looking at anything but her.

"Yeah, that happens sometimes." She said.

"Yeah." He cleared his throat.

"Right, well, I'll see you later."

"Night."

She took that as her cue to get out of the car. She shut the door and watched Eli drive off. More confused than ever.

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><p>Please review! It would make my day. :)<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long since my last update. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it. I don't own Degrassi. Enjoy!

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><p>She couldn't help but stare at him from across the crowded cafeteria. There was no chance in denying how gorgeous he was. How his smile made her want to faint. How his 'just rolled out of bed' made him look that much sexier..<p>

" Clare? You whooo? Clare? Was my question that weird?"

She came back to reality. " What was that? Sorry Jake, I was.. thinking about our Chem test."

" I was just saying that do you think we should get to the Breaking Dawn midnight premier around seven? Or is that too early? Heck, what am I saying? It's never too early for Twilight! Oh! Which reminds me, our team Edward shirts are almost done! I just need to add some more silver glitter on the back and-"

" Jake! For the love of God will you shut up? And come on, don't go over board with the silver glitter again. Last year we just looked silly.." She said.

"Of course! What was I thinking? This year we're gonna look totally snazzy"

Clare couldn't help but chuckle at him. Jake was many things, and yes, one of those things included being obsessed with a series that had an all girl fan base, but he was just so... _him. _It was one of the things she loved about him.

Clare glanced to the other side of the cafeteria again. She couldn't help but sigh. He looked so relaxed with those people that flocked around him. She assumed it was pretty easy to be relaxed when you had the whole world salivating over you. But none the less, he was probably the most accepted person at this school. And why? Because he looked a certain way? Because he treated most people like they were below him? Clare didn't understand how being all those things equaled being popular. It was the most unfair system ever.

Later when she walked into English, one of the three classes she shared with Eli, they studiously ignored each other like they did every day. But for a reason she couldn't fathom, it annoyed her today when he didn't spare a glance in her direction. They hadn't got any closer, not in her opinion of course, but she still felt like he owed her more than... than what she was getting.

Becoming frustrated with her thoughts, she trained her eyes on the board and didn't think of Eli for the rest of the day. At least she tried not to.

The next day Clare walked into work to a site that made her stomach turn.

Eli was shamelessly flirting with a female costumer that didn't look like she even knew what a book was. She was giggling and touching arm any chance she could, and he did nothing to discourage her.

_Why would he? He could get any girl he wanted. It was probably something that just came naturally to him, just like everything else seemed to._

Clare made her way to the back to get rid of her back and put on her name tag. She couldn't help but over hear the voices of Eli and the book bimbo.

" So, did you find everything you were looking for today?" Eli said in his husky voice. _Gag me._

" Hmm, I don't know, maybe you could give me a recommendation? You seem like you know your stuff." She giggled. _Seriously? Gagggg meee._

" Oh I'll give you more than a recommendation, in fact, how would you like a look at my personal favorite? I'll have to warn you though, it's quite a... _hard_ read."

" Oh for Pete's sake!" Clare yelled from the back.

She walked back to the front, not caring if she was intruding or not. This was getting ridiculous, and she was not going to hid in the back while Eli tried to combine dirty talk and literature.

She pushed passed Eli to stand in front of the oblivious blond.

"Anything else you need today mam? Maybe an actual _library card_ to start with? She said.

" Oh, I didn't know I needed one of those-"

"Well you do. So why don't you go home and apply for one online? I'm afraid you can't check out a book without one. Store policy."

The blond looked thoroughly pissed off. _Good_. Clare thought.

"Whatever." The blond said. " I guess I'll see you later Eli."

" You bet, Jenna." He winked.

With that, 'Jenna' turned around and walked out of the store. Swinging her hips back and fourth the whole way.

Clare let out a disgusted snort, and turned to organize the front desk.

" Problems?" Asked Eli.

"Nope, not at all. Although next time, maybe you shouldn't take advantage of the obvious illiteracy of a girl just to get into her below average grade pants."

"Ouch! I'm hurt Clare, I was just trying to be nice to the costumer."

"Oh, I'm sure you were, maybe next time you could do that _without _referring to your penis."

Eli's eyes went wide before he composed himself.

"Clare... did you just talk about my penis?"

"What? No! Stop being gross." She said.

"I understand Clare. You've got my penis on the brain, and that's find. But between you and me... I think we can find a better place for it." He winked.

Clare turned beat red, and proceeded to shove him into the wall.

"Shut the hell up asshole! Ugh, you are so disgusting."

He just smiled from his place against the wall. " I prefer the term creative."

"Do me a favor and just leave me alone, alright?"

"Sorry, what did you say? You lost me at 'Do me.' "

Clare couldn't take anymore, and proceeded to spend the rest of her shift in the back.

It was finally closing time, and Clare was arranging the last few books on the shelf when she felt some surprisingly warm hands cover her eyes.

"Guess who?"

She leaned her head back to slam it against her offender's face, only to be met with someone's chest. There was only one person _that _freakishly tall.

" I'm going to guess a big idiot who doesn't understand the concept of the telephone. Ever heard of it? People use it to warn others _before_ they stop by.

Jake just laughed. " Oh, you know you love me."

Clare turned around to greet him, and was pleasantly surprised by what she saw. Yes, Jake owned contacts, but he very rarely wore them, Yes, he looked great in his adorable think rimmed glasses, but something about seeing his sparkling green eyes unobscured, always made her smile.

" Someone broke out the contacts today I see. Any special occasion that I'm not aware of?" She said.

He simply smiled, and she found herself smiling back. It was hard not to. He had the type of smile that made you want to smile in return.

" Well, I finally got my car out of the shop, so I thought we would celebrate and take her for a drive, maybe pick up some food?"

"Yeah, sounds great! Let me just grab my coat and clock out." She turned to do just that, and saw Eli standing in the doorway leading out of the back room.

She was hit with a sudden case of deja vu. Didn't this same thing happen a few short weeks ago? He

really needed to make noise once in a while to alert his presence.

Eli looked at Jake while addressing Clare. "Going somewhere?"

"Yes, I'm leaving for the night. See ya tomorrow." She walked into the back room, and was surprised when Eli followed her.

" So where are you going?" He seemed some what aggravated.

" I just told you I was leaving."

"But you're not going home are you?" She was thoroughly confused.

" Uh... is that a problem Eli?"

He ignored her question.

" Do you need a ride to work tomorrow? It's supposed to snow tonight, so the roads will probably be icy."

Clare was speechless. She didn't understand his motives at all. " Um, no. I- I think I'll manage. Thanks though?"

He looked hurt, and his hurt turned into anger. " Is _he _driving you?"

" Who? Jake?"

" Yeah, him. Because from what I've seen of his shitty hand me down car it's most likely going to brake down the second it goes over twenty five." He scoffed.

What was his problem? Clare thought.

" Look Eli, I really don't understand what your deal is. And you can be a jerk to me all you want, but don't go trashing my friend for no good reason. I politely declined your very random act of kindness, and that gives you no reason to be pissed. Goodnight."

She turned to leave only to be yanked back from him pulling on her wrist.

" Listen, I was just trying to-"

"Eli, if you know what's good for you, you'll take your hands off me." She said calmly.

His eyes turned dark. " Yeah? What if I don't know what's good for me?"

Jake chose that moment to come through the door.

"Clare? What's taking so-" His eyes locked in on Eli's firm grip on Clare, his look turned angry.

In a very uncharacteristic move, Jake moved close to Eli, and looked him dead in the eye.

" Get your hands off of her." His voice was scary, and it made Clare nervous.

Jake and Eli held each others stare for a second longer, and then Eli took a step back. Jake wasted no time putting his arm protectively over Clare shoulder, and with his eyes never leaving Eli's, walked the two of them out of the back room.

Clare was speechless. She didn't waste a second glance in Eli's direction. Her body was on auto pilot as she allowed Jake to escort her out of the front door and into his car.

When they were seating with their seat belts fasten and the ignition turned on, Jake looked over at her.

" Are you alright?"

Clare looked back at him. It was so strange seeing him like this. Was it just yesterday that they were sitting at lunch, and he was being his silly self, talking about the simplest things?

She had never seen this side of him before. The protective, almost animal like side. She thought she knew her best friend inside and out. Strangely enough though, she wasn't frightened. She was grateful. He was there for her, he protected her. Eli crossed the line, and Jake wasn't going to stand idle by. This made her smile a small smile.

" Yes, I'm alright. Now."

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><p>Please please pleaseeee review if you just want to give Jake a big hug. :)<p> 


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